Although Cumulus certainly has been mentioned as a prospect for the stations that Entercom is divesting, the problem is that Entercom wants to do swaps over cash sales for their divested properties.
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Reading into Entercom's Divestures
- Thread starter iamarussianpirate
- Start date
Although Cumulus certainly has been mentioned as a prospect for the stations that Entercom is divesting, the problem is that Entercom wants to do swaps over cash sales for their divested properties.
Not to mention that Cumulus doesn't have any cash. I can't imagine that it could get enough for its stations in Eugene to pay for 3 stations in market #12.
I wonder if there are other Cumulus assets (other than stations) that might be traded to Entercom for some stations in Seattle and Boston.
If Mary Berner could pull the wool over David Field's eyes for a moment and give away Westwood One, I'm sure she would do it.
Maybe....it depends on the goals Field has for the company. There are many other ways Entercom can run their company beyond a traditional group station owner. They can go into syndication, digital streaming, and other forms of media. If that's where they want to go, Cumulus has assets very few other companies have. Then again, Cumulus, like iHeart, is in negotiations with its creditors. Trading away assets changes the value of the company, and might hurt those negotiations.
Entercom wants to do swaps rather than straight sales, and it would very likely involve Cumulus selling more than just their Eugene cluster in order to cover the cost of the Seattle stations.
KGO was already dead by the time Cumulus got it. Killed by Citadel.
KGO isn't enough to pay for two FMs in Seattle. Bad trade. Nobody wants KGO. Bad enough that Entercom will be stuck with the CBS AMs.
There's only one company that really REALLY wants KGO and that's Family Radio.
But ever since the world ended in 2011, I hear money has become a problem over there.
Guess they could always dump the Big 6-10 for the Big 8-10. That's 2 better, right?
Surprised no one mentioned Emmis or Beasley, if they'd be interested in the market...
I did mention before that Emmis would've considered acquiring some of Entercom's divestitures. Since Beasley has been struggling with their purchase of Greater Media, I'd give them a rest.
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What makes you say that? Has Jeff Smulyan said or done anything that has even implied that?
I thought of Entercom acquiring Emmis’ St. Louis stations for their divestitures.
You're saying it as though you have specific information from someone at Emmis. Do you have such information?
Neither of the CBS stations in St. Louis have been mentioned in any of the Entercom divestiture lists.
In your previous post, you said "Emmis would've considered acquiring some of Entercom's divestitures." Now you're saying the opposite. Which is it? It can't be both.
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Mike loves to speculate on this board without having any kind of inkling as to how the radio business works. (Likes to strut like a rooster.)
From what I've observed, (and I don't have anything official to back this up), it seems logical for Bonneville to trade their Phoenix cluster (KTAR, KTAR-FM, KMVP (FM)), to Entercom for KJAQ, KZOK and KFNQ (and KFNQ is a renter on the KTTH site...no need to acquire another sprawling AM site). Bonneville dumped 1090 in 1995, for 770...would they keep 1090, or spin it off to a religious broadcaster? It's two FM's and one AM in both markets, and Phoenix and Seattle are almost the same size, making there value virtually the same. I've heard that Bonneville loves Seattle.
(Bonneville sold off KMVP 860 earlier this year.)
(Bonneville sold off KMVP 860 earlier this year.)
Emmis is in contraction mode, trying to reduce debt with the still-possible chance of going private.
Beasely is still assimilating the Greater Media acquisition, and really has nothing to trade that would be mutually advantageous. One of the largest markets they have is Detroit, but that's not a market on most company's shopping list; Philly looks stable with a decent 4 FM cluster. Neither cluster seems to fit what Entercom could integrate. And, of course, the Boston cluster could take one more FM, but what do they have to trade for it?
Obviously, this is all speculation and a bit like Fantasy Football. Whatever we guess or say will have no bearing on the eventual outcome.
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